The Burlington phase of the Mouse River Effective Flood Protection Plan consists of approximately 1.5 miles of proposed levee and integrated seepage cutoff wall which surrounds the portion of the city located east of the Canadian Pacific Roadway.  The objective of the project is to increase the level of protection within the City of Burlington from 5,000 cfs to 27,400 cfs.  As a part of the project, entire roadways have been removed and reconstructed, sewer and watermain lines relocated, and the interior drainage reconfigured.  And to allow for the construction of the project, over 40 acquisitions were completed ranging from utility easements to full property buyouts.  Partnered with Barr Engineering, Ackerman-Estvold took on the task of the interior drainage modifications, municipal utility relocation, roadway reconstruction, and property acquisition. 

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BU-1A

Due to the overall scope of the project, impacts to the City, and available funding; the project was divided into four phases.  The first phase, BU-1A, consisted of the removal and replacement of the Colton Avenue Bridge.  The first step was the design of the vertical alignment of Colton Avenue which was set to allow the roadway to be open during the 100 year flood event and allow for temporary earthen closure during larger floods.  The roadway was designed to minimize impact to residential properties within the City and to eliminate the need for a grade raise along County Road 15.  As a part of the design, the new bridge was widened to improve safety for pedestrians utilizing the existing trail system located along Colton Avenue and County Road 15.  In total, the Phase BU-1A project was construction cost was approximately $5,350,000.

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BU-1B

The second phase of the project, Phase BU-1B, was the largest consisting of the levee section south of Colton Avenue and the majority of the municipal utility modifications necessary to complete the full project.  The levee section included the installation of a seepage cutoff wall and extended from the Canadian Pacific Railroad south of the Riverwood addition up to Colton Avenue.  In order to increase river conveyance, the proposed levee through the Johnson addition needed to be shifted landward of the existing levee requiring the removal and reconstruction of Cherry Street along with the existing sewer and watermains serving the neighborhood. 

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Phase BU-1B also included modifications to the existing interior drainage system to allow for all culvert connections to the river to be removed.  In the existing conditions, the City drainage discharges to three locations; the Des Lacs River, the Mouse River, or an existing cutoff meander that is pumped into the Mouse River.  To accommodate the removal of these drainage features, the interior drainage system for the City was modified to utilize the existing dead loops within the City for stormwater storage and a central stormwater pump station was constructed to pump the stormwater to a point downstream of the levee system.  The work also included the installation of a stormwater forcemain and culvert under the Canadian Pacific Railroad.  The total cost of Phase BU-1B was approximately $8,650,000.

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BU-1C

The Third Phase, BU-1C, was the smallest consisting of the levee section extending from Colton Avenue south through the Burlington Recreation center.  In addition to the construction of the levee, the work associated with this phase included modifications to the access and parking around the existing baseball fields, modifications to the parks existing irrigation system, and the relocation of raw water lines.  Phasing of the project was set so that the existing baseball fields could remain in use during construction of the levee and park modifications.  The construction cost of this phase was approximately $2,200,000.

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BU-1D

The final phase of the project, Phase BU-1D, extended the levee section from the Burlington Recreation Facility around the northern part of the City and tied into high ground near the intersection of Park Road and Johnson Street.  With a narrow corridor between the existing residential properties and the Des Lacs River, the design team opted to reconstruct Park Road so that the roadway sat on top of the new levee which lowered the project cost by eliminating a floodwall, minimized impacts to Old Settlers Park, and avoided impact to the existing cemetery.  Municipal utility modifications were limited to stormwater drainage and the relocation of the water and sewer mains under Park Road.  The project was substantially completed in the fall of 2024 with a construction cost of approximately $6,100,000.